Forced Paths

Leader

It had been three days since he left. No letter had come. No soldier at the gates, neither friend nor foe. She didn't know if it was for better or for worse.
He had split his forces, taking with him only half his power. It was a necessary gamble, because her father could have provoked him to stay still, just for Sasuke to go and face him, leaving his grounds exposed.
It was okay, she said constantly, Kakashi was informed, he was going to meet with them, it would be fine. They would be safe. He would be safe.
The siege on the Akimichi grounds was still ongoing, Tsunade was to help with that front. They had their alliance, an alliance Hiashi Hyuga was not aware of, making them move quicker than he could anticipate. It would be fine.
Ino was here, sleeping still, but she seemed better with each passing day. Her baby, a boy with refined features like hers and his father's colours was under the care of Mikoto Uchiha. And the woman didn't leave his side.
Several guards were pointed at them, Sasuke's men all of them. It felt safer, safer and troublesome because Sasuke had left without them, without people that he had chosen and trusted.
She took a bite of the rice Izumi had brought her. Hinata had asked her to stay with Ino, as an extra measure, because despite all, Izumi was her chosen, her trusted. Even if she herself had broken that trust for a while, hiding Itachi when she knew fully well the longing his friends had.
Izumi never asked, for how long or why, she never asked not even when Hinata apologised. She only said thank you, and never brought it up again.
Yet Izumi could behave only for selective things and she had decided that she could spare some time every day to bring her food, because she was sure that Hinata didn't eat. She had tried to decline, to tell her that it wasn't necessary, but without result. She came and went in a hurry, so she would not neglect the task that Hinata had already given her. The rice from her field would built her strength, she had said. And Hinata had smiled.
She was left here, sitting in a chair too big for her, in an office that belonged to another. She was left here to command a clan that wasn't her own, with people unwilling to accept her very existence. Yet, she was prepared to do all that in another life. One that seemed far away now, a dream of the past that she had just now remembered again.
She was here to protect his home. His people. To protect a promise of a life that they both made. To keep a house with a back garden safe. A mother whose face was much like his. A friend she made along the way.
With the hope, that this little corner would expand and these grounds that smell heat would be her home too.
For now, the little space she owned was enough.
She had given her first two orders already. And while Sasuke's men didn't look at her with disgust, some were wary of her capabilities. It was natural she supposed, ideas and views deep rooted didn't change in a day or two.
The first one was accepted easily. A searching party for the assassin that had escaped. She wasn't sure that he was still here, but one could not be too cautious.
The second, well the second wasn't received with enthusiasm. She proposed, because she knew what was to come, to give whatever extra armoury and weapons to young and healthy women. If an attack was to come at their door, anyone should be able to fight, or at least defend themselves. And denial came as she had predicted it would. So, she tried again, because she had already made her decision and she believed she was right. And the second time, it wasn't a suggestion, it was a command. She would fight anyone who disagreed, she would, but she didn't have to. Perhaps it was her tone that was unwavering, unyielding much like the men of this land were, but it passed through. She had made them hate her perhaps. Maybe they thought she was exposing their women to unnecessary danger. But they were wrong, it was the opposite of that and for now she didn't have the time to discuss it any further.
She touched her sword. She never let it out of her sight these days. Always on her, it gave her a sense of control, otherwise lost. And it was his gift. She pressed the hilt. Sasuke would be fine.
She had taught him how to defend against her clan and he was more than capable to fight. He would win, they would win and he would come back.
There was an after there, an after about what his return would mean, about all the results it would bring with it. If her clan would lose, what would happen to Hanabi and Neji? The alliance, they wouldn't hurt them, they couldn't. When Fugaku Uchiha would sit in this very chair she was sitting, what would he say?
She sighed and forced herself to eat some more.